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PROLOGUE

THE KINGDOM OF KALINGA

THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT

261 BC

The air reeked of smoke and burnt flesh The army’s main encampment was on the other side of the destroyed city The only sound was the restless shuffling of hooves fro of the Royal Lion banner in the breeze

“How many dead?” Mauryan Eeneral, Kathar, who sat astride an ebony stallion that contrasted with Ashoka’s brilliant white steed

“It is a glorious victory, Excellency,” Kathar said “We have lost only ten thousand n”

For a week Ashoka rode through the nation he had conquered and saw nothing but death and destruction Now as they crested the heavily forested hill overlooking the rea’s capital, he finally saw the true extent of his war to crush the last kingdom on the subcontinent that refused to bow to his rule The entire city had been incinerated, and the fields were littered with corpses as far as the eye could see

His army’s ten thousand casualties meant that one out of every seven soldiers had been killed or wounded in battle Despite the staggering nuhtiest force south of the Himalayas, possibly in the whole world No arainst hiht now

Ashoka turned froeneral “I mean, how many have we slain?”

Kathar se annihilation he had caused of a proud people “My officers tell an soldiers None were spared An equal number of civilians were either killed or deported in the plunder after the battles We have taught the world a lesson No one will dare defy us again”

Ashoka did not return the sreat triu for days Unwilling to becoht to the last es co suicide rather than suffer brutalization by his ra army

His ees Delta This ride was supposed to have been a survey of his monumental achievement Instead, it had become a trail of infa his view of the world in profound ways Ashoka knew he couldn’t let this be his lasting legacy

He deserved his title Ashoka the Terrible He had done hideous things to secure his reign as emperor He’d killed ninety-nine of his one hundred half brothers to prevent theer brother Vit, his most trusted adviser He’d created a prison known as Ashoka’s Hell, where his eneinable No inmate had ever come out alive

But all of that paled in co he’d seen over the past week’s ride These were not betrayers and crihting for their homeland and its innocent civilians who only wanted to live their lives in peace

Vit and his forces were scheduled tonews from the rest of the country But what he’d seen already was enough to convince hi the lives of his subjects

The rustle of leaves in the forest caused his guards to draw their swords Ashoka turned to see a filthy young woe fro down her cheeks as she took in the holocaust her people had endured Then she turn

ed and caught sight of the Emperor and his men She limped toward them

“Kill this veruards

The guard raised his sword and readied to charge at her